Infineon expands Villach

Infineon is expanding its Austrian site in Villach in a project it calls “Pilot Space Industry 4.0”.

This, says Infineon, is an ‘ innovative concept for networked and knowledge-intensive production’.

Research on new materials and technologies will also be intensified.

Infineon’s expansion plans foresee investments and research costs amounting to a total of € 290 million, creating approximately 200 new jobs in the period from 2014 to 2017, primarily in R&D.

infineon’s Peter Schiefer, Says: “The continuing development of Villach is a part of our group-wide manufacturing strategy. At the site, important developments will be advanced and production-ready innovative technologies will be transferred by Infineon to other sites. At the same time our strategy will include expansion of our volume manufacturing on 300 millimeter thin wafers in Dresden and on 200 millimeter wafers in Kulim, Malaysia.”

Sabine Herlitschka, CEO of Infineon Austria, says: “With the expansion concept Villach is reinforcing its important role as a factory of innovation and a competence center for power electronics within the corporate group. We’re coupling the innovation factory in Villach with volume production in Dresden using the example of 300 millimeter thin wafer production for power semiconductors.”

Infineon will construct a complex for research, production and measurement technology workstations.

Logistics, miscellaneous infrastructures and the plant equipment will also be expanded to meet future demand. This will let Infineon mobilize the productivity and automation called for in international competition, while at the same time increasing flexibility.

Infineon has been actively engaged in the Industry 4.0 initiative from the very beginning; its pilot space in Villach is another step towards realising it.

A wide-scale research program with innovations in materials, processes, technologies and system expertise is the second pillar of the Villach site expansion, supporting development of the next generation of energy-efficient products.

Here the program focuses on the integration of innovative substrates such as gallium nitride and silicon carbide, on MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) and sensor technologies as well as on the continuing development of 300 millimeter thin wafer technology.